1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns a method and apparatus for applying a uniform substance coating to a food product which advantageously enables the product to retain a low moisture content for better storage and reduction of drying costs. The food product is advanced through a rotatable reel to agitate and expose the product to sprayed-on coatings in conjunction with circulating and heating air.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of different food products are produced by commercial methods which require drying prior to storage. Moisture levels in the product must be kept low to prevent product degradation during the period from manufacture to ultimate consumption. Thus, in the case of many types of products such as breakfast cereals and snack foods which are conventionally prepared by extrusion cooking, the moisture content must be reduced prior to packaging and subsequent storage.
It may be desirable to produce a product which is provided with a surface coating of a different substance. For example, the consumer may desire a breakfast cereal which has a sugar coating, flavored coating, or a snack food such as a puffed cheese-flavored item which has a salt coating. These materials have conventionally been added to the product in separate machines located downstream from the product dryer. The coatings have often been applied through what is known as a piccolo tube where the coating is dripped onto the product.
These prior art machines and methods have had difficulty in achieving uniform product coatings and have had the further disadvantage that the product has a tendency to aggregate into clumps which are unsalable. Perhaps a more serious problem is the moisture added to the product during the coating process which may adversely affect the product by sealing in the added moisture when the moisture of the coating is absorbed by the dried product and the surface coating is dried. These processes have not adequately agitated the product during dripping of the coatings with the result that certain shapes, such as toroids ("O's"), are unevenly coated.